Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, Illustrated by John Tenniel, Bound in One Volume by Bayntun, 1959, 1955

Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [together with] Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1959, 1955. Illustrated by John Tenniel. Bound together in one volume by Baytun. Presented in red polished calf boards, with thematic gilt stamps and gilt tooled borders to the front and back boards, raised bands and gilt titles, stamps, and tooling to the spine, decorative endpapers and dentelle work. 

Presented is a beautiful example of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and sequel Through the Looking-Glass, exquisitely bound together in one volume by Bayntun. A jewel of a book, this unique presentation combines a 1959 Macmillan & Co Ltd. printing of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with a 1955 printing of Through the Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There by the same publisher. It is presented in bright red polished leather boards, with a gilt-stamped White Rabbit and gilt border to the front board, a spine with raised bands, gilt titles, borders, and gilt stamps of playing cards, bunny, flower, and lion to compartments, and a back board with a gilt-stamped Queen of Hearts illustration and gilt border. Inside, the book is elaborately illustrated by John Tenniel, with 42 illustrations in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and 50 illustrations in Through the Looking-Glass. 

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (January 1832-1898), better known by his pen name of Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, and mathematician. His famous children’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first published in July of 1865. Carroll then wrote Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There as its sequel, published in 1871. Through the Looking-Glass was the first of the Alice stories to gain widespread popularity, and prompted a newfound appreciation for its predecessor when it was published. 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass were written as mirrored tales to one another. While Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland begins outside on a warm summer day, uses changes in size as a plot device, and the imagery of playing cards, Through the Looking-Glass begins indoors on a snowy November day, plays with time and spatial directions, and uses the imagery of chess.  

Adept at word play, logic, and fantasy, Carroll’s tales about Alice are prime examples of the literary nonsense genre. Bending logic and emphasizing the peculiar, Carroll often drew parallels between the fictional characters and real people, which created a type of parody of Victorian life and society. The book was beloved by children and adults alike, with readers such as Queen Victoria and Oscar Wilde among Carroll’s fan base. "Alice is, in a word, a book of that extremely rare kind which will belong to all the generations to come until the language becomes obsolete " (Carpenter & Prichard, 102).

CONDITION:

Good condition. Two books, bound together as one. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Illustrated by John Tenniel, London: Macmillan & Co Ltd, 1959. With 42 illustrations by Tenniel. pp. 1-174. [plus ] "An Easter Greeting to Every Child Who Loves ‘Alice.’” [plus] "Christmas Greeting From A Fairy To A Child" [plus] Through the Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll, Illustrated by John Tenniel, London: Macmillan & Co Ltd, 1955 with fifty illustrations by Tenniel, pp. 1-204. [plus] "An Easter Greeting to Every Child Who Loves "Alice.'" [plus] "Christmas Greeting From A Fairy To A Child."

Beautifully bound together in red polished calf leather, with gilt-stamped rabbit on the front, bordered in gilt, spine with raised bands, gilt titles, gilt stamps of playing cards, bunny, flower, and lion to the compartments, back board with gilt-stamped Queen of Hearts illustration and gilt borders. All edges gilt. Dentelle work and decorative endpaper. Excellent condition, save some wear and chipping to the joints, but still stable. "Bayntun Binder, Bath, England" neatly stamped on free endpaper. 

Dimensions: 7 3/16 " H x 5 1/16" W x 1 5/16" D.

Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.